She Is
by Kaslyna
Summary: AU. Booth drops two bombs on Brennan: Hannah's pregnant and they're getting married. Can they find their way back? I swear there will be a relatively happy ending. :/ M for later. No Booth/Hannah smut. :P


**A/N: Totally AU. :/ I know I was doing Never Say Never, and I still am, just this story got stuck. Please don't hate. Booth/Brennan story, "Bones wants a baby" storyline. Set in the future. ;) Just roll with it. :P And fear not! Because it will get better. Smut, too, perhaps...? ;)**

**Disclaimer: Bones belongs to Fox and Hart Hanson. I own nothing but this dang plot and my ADHD which comes with a short attention span.**

_ Breathe in, breathe out. Keep the screaming inside your head. Don't let it escape. In, out. In, out. Over and over. Don't let anyone know. Don't let him know._ She repeated this over and over in her head as she sat in the doctor's office that Saturday morning. It was drizzly outside. Today would be the day when she knew for sure whether or not she was pregnant. Today would be the day her life could potentially change, for better or for worse.

"Miss Brennan?" she looks up at the doctor, "Follow me. Examination Room Four."

She gets up and follows the woman, thinking about that day just three months ago when this madness started.

* * *

Three Months Ago

December. Her least favorite time of the year, so it was only fitting that the catalyst that brought her world crashing down upon her would occur now. Temperance had always hated the snow. Midwest winters had been the worst, and they weren't much better in the nation's capital. Still, she rarely complained; it wasn't her style. That'd be Angela, who would be giddy for snow and rant for days afterward about how much she hated the stuff. But no, Temperance Brennan did not complain, especially at something as simple as snow.

It was snowing that afternoon. She enjoyed watching the complex and intricate patterns of the snowflakes from up close, but today she settled for watching outside the window of her office. It seemed morbidly fitting that she'd find out in this room, where everything had started-and ended. He sat on the couch, and she could practically hear his telepathic pleas. Which was, of course, impossible, but Temperance was far too distraught to be logical anymore.

He'd come in whistling. Happy, glowing almost, like he hadn't in so long, maybe even since she'd turned him down almost nine months ago. She'd looked up from a file and smiled a little. Until she realized that his cheerful demeanor did not reach his eyes. There was hesitation, wariness, and a perplexing guilt in his brown eyes.

"Booth?" she had asked softly, "What is it?"

She was sure she didn't want to know, as was he, but he told her, "I'm getting married."

Shock. Mind-numbing shock was all she could feel. She was numb, inside and out. And then suddenly it passed, a grief and pain unlike any other crashing over and onto her in waves. If Temperance had been standing, she knows she would have likely fallen down from the sheer force of it. He was watching her, cautious, desperately seeking her approval. But she had none; none for this man, nor his girlfriend of but five months, Hannah.

"Bones?"

She shook her head and stood, making her way to the window. She stood, arms folded across her chest, staring into space. Sensing that she needed time and room to think, he sat on the couch and buried his head in his hands. It was irrational, this fear of rejection he'd so expected from her when he finally told her this. They'd been engaged for all of four hours, and yet he wished he could take it back already. Take everything back. Because there was another thing, too, something that would surely hurt her more than the news of his impending marriage ever could.

"Is there something else?" she asked quietly, sensing him.

The next words out of his mouth shattered her; walls and defenses crumbling, fragile heart breaking, "Hannah... Hannah's pregnant."

He was shamefully glad she was turned away so he didn't have to see the look of pure anguish on her delicate features, nor the tears forming in her sea-green eyes. He was grateful he didn't see the way she pressed her forehead softly against the cool glass, the way her eyes squeezed shut, the way she clenched and unclenched her fists. Shuddering breaths and sighs escaped her, and finally, wrenched deep from within her mangled heart, a choking sob. Then another, another, another, until she was sobbing and her tears were staining the glass windows of her office.

"How far along is she?" she finally asked in a shaky, quavering voice, "How...?"

"Two months," he replied casually, "She's due in late June."

Bones nodded, smiling sadly, softly, "I'm happy, I guess."

Those words shattered his wavering resolve. He stood and gently enveloped her in a hug from behind, unable to help himself from burying his head in her soft, silky auburn hair, now straightened. It made him guilty to absolutely no end, those words. Even now, she knew he craved her approval, desperately needed it, perhaps, and was trying to be reassuring. To be happy that he was finally getting what he wanted: a loving wife without emotional baggage and a child that was rightfully his. She was hurting, but she was trying to comfort him, make him feel better, for hurting her inevitably.

"Don't," she whispered, hoarse and fierce, "Don't make this harder than it needs to be. Please. You owe me that much."

With that she quietly extracted herself from his arms and left her office. He watched her go, unable to blame her for her callousness and hostility. Booth knew he would forever be haunted by those aching sobs and the tears on the window fogged with her breath. And most of all, those words-_I'm happy, I guess_-they would stay with him forever. For all of time, for eternity, to hell and back, they'd stick with him because it reminded him of what he'd done. He'd failed her.

Just like every other person in her life.

He wants so badly to follow her, to find her, to comfort and console her. To hold her in his arms, to kiss her, irrational as it was, steal away the pain he'd caused her and make it his. But she was right, as usual; it would only make it tougher for her, and he'd already done enough damage. If Seeley Booth didn't go to hell for this, he'd probably shoot God in the eye. He hadn't told her the other part of his damn news; that Hannah wanted to name the child after Bones. She would surely wonder if she was just plain cruel or just plain stupid, which Hannah was neither. Hannah had no idea what had happened between them, had absolutely no idea why he'd moved on so quickly. Hannah was just trying to be nice, and he knows that if he'd told her they surely would have argued, and then he would have defended Hannah and in the end only hurt her more by doing so.

It scared him to know how much he still cared for Temperance Brennan.

* * *

She didn't sleep that night. Not that she had expected to at all. Around eleven Temperance finally gave up and dressed quickly before going to the lab and throwing herself into work. She blasted her iPod in her ears because the physical pain was a distraction from the emotional pain. It barely worked, but at least she felt something besides the purgatory that she was stuck in.

Hannah. There was so much about her, and Temperance knew rationally, Hannah was a good person. A nice, kind young girl, sweet and perfect for someone like Seeley Booth. Just what he'd needed; he had enough emotional baggage for two, and someone without any would be ideal for him, she knew. Still, the strange bond they'd forged was based largely on the lies of their parents, the pain they'd caused them both, emotionally, physically; intentionally, unintentionally. It reminded her, oddly enough, of the concept of yin and yang- balance, harmony, order, peace. They were both far too yin for one another; they didn't complement, they clashed. Hannah was perfect; a yang to his yin, the person he'd been searching for forever, his soulmate.

Temperance hadn't really thought of Hannah as a permanent fixture in Booth's life, until now, of course. She knew Booth; he was honorable, chivalrous, obnoxiously so sometimes; nevertheless, she knew he would always do right by Hannah. He was happy; that should have been enough for her, except it wasn't and probably never would be. Hannah was a great person, a friend of Temperance's now, though the relationship was strained and rocky at best. Now that Booth 3.0 (Booth was the first, Parker the second) was coming along, she knew she'd have to get used to Hannah.

Around eight she feels the eyes of Angela boring into her skull before hearing a sigh and a chagrined, "Sweetie, have you been here all night?"

"Yes," Temperance replied, nodding absently, "These remains are very interesting, Angela."

Angela rolled her eyes, "Sweetie, what's up?"

"Huh?" Temperance glanced up at her best friend, "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Angela smirked, arms crossed tightly over her chest now, "Something's up with you, Tempe. I'm worried."

Temperance shrugged, "Whatever. I just couldn't sleep, that's all."

Angela nods, unconvinced, "Sure, whatever you say, sweetie."

Then she left and Temperance sighed. Was she really so transparent?


End file.
